African Democratic Congress kicked off a sweeping countrywide membership campaign, with top officials pledging to mobilize genuine grassroots backing to unseat the dominant All Progressives Congress and seize control in the 2027 general elections.
The initiative, unveiled at a gathering in the capital, focuses on bolstering the party’s base through a mix of digital and manual enrollment tools, party leaders announced.
National Chairman Senator David Mark voiced optimism about the drive’s impact, declaring: “All I want to assure you is that ADC is a new bride in town. Everywhere you go, people want to join ADC.
They clamour to get the cards. The cards are out now, so we will see what happens. I assure you that in 2027, ADC will form the government, and this is the foundation we are laying today.”
Registration Committee Chairman Kashim Imam outlined the hybrid system, explaining the choice of a web app to sidestep common pitfalls. “We thought of developing websites, but websites can crash. We also considered developing an app, but many people may not want to download an app just for party registration. So, we came up with what we call a web app,” he said.
Imam added that cards would be distributed on demand to avoid waste, with each state initially allocated 50,000: “We are not going to give out cards to be kept and unused. We are putting them on demand. In the interim, we have said that each state will receive 50,000 cards from today so that registration can begin.”
Deputy Chairperson Aisha Yesufu, overseeing the digital arm, praised the platform’s efficiency and security features, noting: “In terms of registration, it is seamless and quick—completed within a minute or two. It includes a passport picture, and with that, you can access your details. There is also a QR code, so at any time you can retrieve the information of the registered person.”
The system uses voters’ identification numbers for verification, aiming to bridge gaps in internet access.
National Secretary Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, in a keynote address, warned against fabricating numbers to inflate appearances, stating: “We must resist—with every fibre of our conviction—the temptation to bloat our figures with imaginary people. It does not help us. It does not strengthen us. A party of ghosts cannot win elections. A party of ghosts cannot govern.”
He urged transparency and accountability, adding: “If we cannot govern our own party with integrity, what right do we have to ask Nigerians to trust us with their government?”
The committee, formed on January 7, includes figures like Senator Nurudeen Abatemi, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour and Dr. Tanko Yunusa, tasked with overseeing the push.
